Just thought I'd clarify that in case readers don't understand why that line has become the take-away from last night's debates. (Just watched Piers Morgan repeatedly not getting "it")
Atheism and secular living from a woman's point of view.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Greetings from my Binder
When I send my resume to a potential employer, I don't want to be in a "women's" binder. I want to be in the binder with everybody else who meets the minimum qualifications for the job I've applied for. And then, I want my resume to stay there and duke it out with the other resumes and not be tossed into the circular file (or the "NO" binder?) just for being a woman's resume. I don't want my potential employer to say, okay we've got five white men, now let's grab the women's binder, the Hispanic binder, the Asian binder, the black binder and the disabled binder and find some token hires.
Just thought I'd clarify that in case readers don't understand why that line has become the take-away from last night's debates. (Just watched Piers Morgan repeatedly not getting "it")
Just thought I'd clarify that in case readers don't understand why that line has become the take-away from last night's debates. (Just watched Piers Morgan repeatedly not getting "it")
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Links Links Links
Typing "completely wrong" into google image search yields some LULZDear Abby is on the side of salespeople who say "Have a blessed day." I've been annoyed by that one too, and no, it's not a secular greeting. Only religious people use it.
Pakistan's Taliban tries to assassinate a little girl. Seriously, they are afraid of a teenager who wants to go to school? If 9/11 couldn't get the attention of the less nutty segments of Islam, perhaps this abomination will. The backlash is starting already. Quotable quote: "One human rights activist said that while there was "a great big moderate majority" in Pakistan but "it never speaks up". Perhaps they're taking a cue from the cowards in the U.S. who are afraid to speak up against the Christian Taliban.
Meanwhile, Pakistan goes after a different kid for "blasphemy." Seriously? Kids? WTF is wrong with that country?
In Canada, students who protest religion in schools have their way.
Biden & Ryan represent two sides of American Catholicism, and it became an issue in the VP debate.
Even a neurosurgeon can be fooled by his brain. Sam Harris explains what really happened. Now if only Newsweek would feature Sam Harris's rebuttal in a cover story. (Found via Why Evolution is True blog)
Liberty University grad & straight fundy lives life as a gay man for a year, then writes a book about it.
SCOTUS will debate gay marriage this year. YAY!
Dearborn Michigan is the hub of Islam-Christian tug-of-war on Free Speech, with crazyass Koran-burning pastor the latest combatant.
A Baptist church ordained a gay man and other Baptist churches want to excommunicate that church... or something. When Baptists are coming around you know the culture war is over. Or... Baptists will have to rethink being Baptist and letting churches select their own clergy. "The action also goes against the long-known Baptist principle of the autonomy of the local church" If they want to drop that principle, then they'd be Episcopalians!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Religion Clause: Recent Articles of Interest
Religion Clause: Recent Articles of Interest
I recommend the blog and the links to articles of interest!
I recommend the blog and the links to articles of interest!
This Othe Week (of Links) that Was
Jewish kids in the South face prosletyzing by classmates. (found via The Religious Clause)
Mormonism as a Work of Art, yes, really. Nevermind the fraud and psychosis of Joseph Smith. It was just artistic license.
The author/translater who popularized Martin Buber passed away this week. This obituary is an interesting read.
Animals all over the country were blessed this week in honor of St. Francis. A priest blogs about how pointless it is for the animals, but a feel-good thing for the two-legged owners. It's funny how often reglious people openly admit that their supernatural pleas really don't have supernatural power, and they don't even realize how hypocritical they sound.
Pakistan has a human rights council! The Standing Committee on Human Rights addressed the problem of girls being forced to convert from Hinduism to Islam and other issues. Why aren't boys being forced to convert? Oh yeah, a man can marry four women, so mathematically the Muslims should be forcing some of their sons to deconvert (or blow themselves up).
In France, a "sweep" netted nine arrests and one death of potential Islamic terrorists. It was a big multi-city project and they only found this many?
Posters supporting Israel and portraying Islamic terrorists as "savages" must be posted in Washington, D.C. Metro stations. There will be only four stations, though. I imagine the Pentagon will be one, but what are the other three?
Evangelical Pentacostalism is influencing Brazilian fashion! If the photos are correct, at least there's still some sense of style in the newly converted. The Pentacostal nutters around here dress like 19th century farmers.
Oh boo hoo... if Mormons keep reaching out to poor countries they may not rake in as much money. 10% of a pittance is what? A shittance?
Pat Robertson says America belongs to Jesus at the America for Jesus event, which drew fewer than 10,000 people. Security handles hecklers by praying for them. Uhhh yeah, keep that up. If he had a gun would you pray for him to drop it?
Mormonism as a Work of Art, yes, really. Nevermind the fraud and psychosis of Joseph Smith. It was just artistic license.
The author/translater who popularized Martin Buber passed away this week. This obituary is an interesting read.
Animals all over the country were blessed this week in honor of St. Francis. A priest blogs about how pointless it is for the animals, but a feel-good thing for the two-legged owners. It's funny how often reglious people openly admit that their supernatural pleas really don't have supernatural power, and they don't even realize how hypocritical they sound.
Pakistan has a human rights council! The Standing Committee on Human Rights addressed the problem of girls being forced to convert from Hinduism to Islam and other issues. Why aren't boys being forced to convert? Oh yeah, a man can marry four women, so mathematically the Muslims should be forcing some of their sons to deconvert (or blow themselves up).
In France, a "sweep" netted nine arrests and one death of potential Islamic terrorists. It was a big multi-city project and they only found this many?
Posters supporting Israel and portraying Islamic terrorists as "savages" must be posted in Washington, D.C. Metro stations. There will be only four stations, though. I imagine the Pentagon will be one, but what are the other three?
Evangelical Pentacostalism is influencing Brazilian fashion! If the photos are correct, at least there's still some sense of style in the newly converted. The Pentacostal nutters around here dress like 19th century farmers.
Oh boo hoo... if Mormons keep reaching out to poor countries they may not rake in as much money. 10% of a pittance is what? A shittance?
Pat Robertson says America belongs to Jesus at the America for Jesus event, which drew fewer than 10,000 people. Security handles hecklers by praying for them. Uhhh yeah, keep that up. If he had a gun would you pray for him to drop it?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Links of the Week
America for Jesus rally in Philadelphia. Don't these bullies realize they have to travel to heathen cities to connect with the founders? Hmmmmm I wonder if any of them will notice that. Here's some fun: "Attendees will be asked to start 40 days of prayer and fasting, through the Nov. 6, election, to help turn the nation toward God" Well wouldn't that decrease voter turnout just a wee bit? if they're too weak to show up at the polls?
In Indiana religious bullies are trying to redefine abortion out of existence at one clinic, anyway. Meanwhile, Uruguay takes a step toward decriminalizing abortion. In Kansas, the office of the doctor murdered in his own church by a so-called "Christian" has been bought by an abortion rights group. Very brave of them.
Okay, not specifically religous (usually) but eunuchs live longer, at least in Korea. And in other news, male scientists are scrambling to find evidence that counters this finding.
My local newspaper is covering a dramatic dispute over whether the right to be a pastor depends on 1) being the son of the former pastor or 2) knowing something about religion, like maybe having gone to seminary.
The new charter schools in New York are supposedly causing the collapse of parochial, especially Catholic schools. The many proven allegations of pedophilia within the Catholic church couldn't possibly have contributed, no no no...
Donald Trump waived his speaker's fee to give a convocation speech at Liberty University, with Michele Bachmann on stage. I thought he was just a loose cannon crackpot, but apparently he's one of them. That explains a lot.
The fourth Wednesday of September is See You at the Pole Day, when Christian students confuse worship of a dead guy on a tree with worship of a secular symbol. Well, the flag is prettier, but peer pressure to worship is still creepy.
An ancient Buddhist statue (with a swastika) stolen by the Nazis is truly otherworldly - it's made from a metorite!
Muslims want everyone else to suppress freedom of speech in rules against "religious hatred." They don't seem to be interested in laws suppressing the freedom to stage violent murderous riots when their feelings get hurt, though.
Meanwhile, Muslims in India seem to be able to handle a comedy about an atheist who meets God. The plot sounds convoluted but interesting, even if the moral of the story is hackneyed pro-religious nonsense.
Catholics, however, are "up in arms" over the way they've been portrayed in a movie that's not getting good reviews anyway. Muslims could learn a lesson from the Catholics here. "Up in arms" for Catholics means being whiny babies, which is enough to threaten release of a film. No murder or arson so far reported.
Hindus, in return, are whining about yoga being disallowed in a Catholic church in England. And in other news, the National Turk gets people to read this boring story by hiring a porn star to pose in a braless yoga getup at the top of the article.
...and since most of my readers are heterosexual males, there's probably no point in posting anything after that.
In Indiana religious bullies are trying to redefine abortion out of existence at one clinic, anyway. Meanwhile, Uruguay takes a step toward decriminalizing abortion. In Kansas, the office of the doctor murdered in his own church by a so-called "Christian" has been bought by an abortion rights group. Very brave of them.
Okay, not specifically religous (usually) but eunuchs live longer, at least in Korea. And in other news, male scientists are scrambling to find evidence that counters this finding.
My local newspaper is covering a dramatic dispute over whether the right to be a pastor depends on 1) being the son of the former pastor or 2) knowing something about religion, like maybe having gone to seminary.
The new charter schools in New York are supposedly causing the collapse of parochial, especially Catholic schools. The many proven allegations of pedophilia within the Catholic church couldn't possibly have contributed, no no no...
Donald Trump waived his speaker's fee to give a convocation speech at Liberty University, with Michele Bachmann on stage. I thought he was just a loose cannon crackpot, but apparently he's one of them. That explains a lot.
The fourth Wednesday of September is See You at the Pole Day, when Christian students confuse worship of a dead guy on a tree with worship of a secular symbol. Well, the flag is prettier, but peer pressure to worship is still creepy.
An ancient Buddhist statue (with a swastika) stolen by the Nazis is truly otherworldly - it's made from a metorite!
Muslims want everyone else to suppress freedom of speech in rules against "religious hatred." They don't seem to be interested in laws suppressing the freedom to stage violent murderous riots when their feelings get hurt, though.
Meanwhile, Muslims in India seem to be able to handle a comedy about an atheist who meets God. The plot sounds convoluted but interesting, even if the moral of the story is hackneyed pro-religious nonsense.
Catholics, however, are "up in arms" over the way they've been portrayed in a movie that's not getting good reviews anyway. Muslims could learn a lesson from the Catholics here. "Up in arms" for Catholics means being whiny babies, which is enough to threaten release of a film. No murder or arson so far reported.
Hindus, in return, are whining about yoga being disallowed in a Catholic church in England. And in other news, the National Turk gets people to read this boring story by hiring a porn star to pose in a braless yoga getup at the top of the article.
...and since most of my readers are heterosexual males, there's probably no point in posting anything after that.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Skepticism: A Key to Accuracy
I stumbled upon this interesting article about the persistence of untruth. Much of it was a repeat of information I've read elsewhere, such as the fact that people more readily accept a statement as true if it agrees with their prior worldview and opinion.
As I kept reading I got more and more depressed, having all this evidence for the persistence of false memory but then I saw this section header: "Skepticism: A Key to Accuracy." It seems that people who have developed a skeptical approach to information tend not to be as easily fooled.
I remember during the run-up to the Iraqwar invasion that I was the only one amongst my friends who saw through the lie about Hussein being connected to Al Qaeda. I (heatedly) pointed out that Al Qaeda is a fundamentalist movement while Iraq is secular under Hussein. But... I was living in D.C. and my friends had all been traumatized by 9/11 so they were predisposed to accept any idea if it seemed to mean added protection for themselves. (I suspect Cheney had PTSD too) I was living in Texas on 9/11/2001, so I had a little more distance from it.
But... I am also skeptical by nature and then developed my skepticism further after waking up to the ridiculousness of religious claims. (Of course I believe what they say about skepticism because it agrees with me about skepticism being a good thing, but I have also never seen anything to disabuse me of that, and I have seen many attempts)
The article:
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/13/3/106.full?ijkey=FNCpLYuivUOHE&keytype=ref&siteid=sppsi
(pdf version: http://psi.sagepub.com/content/13/3/106.full.pdf+html)
in Psychological Science in the Public Interest December 2012 vol. 13 no. 3 106-131
As I kept reading I got more and more depressed, having all this evidence for the persistence of false memory but then I saw this section header: "Skepticism: A Key to Accuracy." It seems that people who have developed a skeptical approach to information tend not to be as easily fooled.
I remember during the run-up to the Iraq
But... I am also skeptical by nature and then developed my skepticism further after waking up to the ridiculousness of religious claims. (Of course I believe what they say about skepticism because it agrees with me about skepticism being a good thing, but I have also never seen anything to disabuse me of that, and I have seen many attempts)
The article:
http://psi.sagepub.com/content/13/3/106.full?ijkey=FNCpLYuivUOHE&keytype=ref&siteid=sppsi
(pdf version: http://psi.sagepub.com/content/13/3/106.full.pdf+html)
in Psychological Science in the Public Interest December 2012 vol. 13 no. 3 106-131
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
International Hatred Day
Hate someone today because you'll restore the balance of the universe! The more people you hate the more you'll tip the balance toward world peace! (or something)
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Euthanasia
I've been on an emotional roller coaster all week, culminating with the euthanasia of a beloved pet. Sometimes I wish I could fantasize life "on the other side" for loved ones, but this dog was a real momma's boy. Non-existence is by far preferable to waiting decades for me to find him on the other side of the "Rainbow Bridge." Not to mention, he'd have to compete with my other lost pets for my attention. Tough on me, though.
Because I've been involved in pet rescue and I'm a big fan of one special breed, I have a lot of internet buddies and real-life friends who share my love for the breed and for rescue. We often don't share much else, though. So... I just say "thank you" when they invoke the Rainbow Bridge or tell me they'll pray for me.
Making the decision to euthanize is one of those tough times when being a rationalist is really inconvenient. As much as I admire the scientific method and need to know the whole truth of my pet's medical condition, I don't want to let go. If you've followed this blog you know that I've been reading books about decisions and beliefs (just started reading yet another one!). So besides feeling this pull I have the self-awareness of the reasons for my conflicting feelings.
Fortunately the specialist vet I eventually went to (at 1:00 a.m.!) gave me the whole ugly truth, more than the other two vets I'd seen in the previous two days. We could do the procedure, which was expensive but affordable for me, but it probably wouldn't make much of a difference and there were specific reasons why it might not even be possible to do it successfully. The gambler in me wanted to try anyway. The amygdala is in control of that part and said "DO ANYTHING TO SAVE HIM EVEN IF THERE'S A 5% CHANCE!" Then the prefrontal cortex stepped in and said "Save the money and use it to rescue the next one. You've done all you can reasonably do for this dog and it's his time."
Fortunately at that hour the vet hospital didn't need the exam room I was in so I had plenty of time to think it through. Or feel it through, as the case may be. When I put him up on his feet and let him walk around for awhile I could tell that he was suffering even though he still had that *spark* of life and his mind was still with me. An he still wanted to be with me, but I hated that he was suffering, and I couldn't bear to give him only temporary relief only to feel the same way or worse later. After all the tug-of-war between dreading his loss and knowing the "science" of why it was necessary, in the end compassion took over.
So I called the vet on the intercom and told her I was ready to let him go. We talked about euthanasia in general and I told her I've met people who became vet techs (veterinary nurses) because they didn't want to do euthanasias. She responded that she believes she's doing a service, and I had to agree. Then I blurted out "I wish we could do this for people" while she was giving my dog his first injection.
I have said this a few times before in random places and it generally makes people queasy. This is the first time someone agreed with me. She gave me a hug when it was over and told me she understood. I kind of wonder if she also understood how hard it is to believe in euthanasia for people in our society. We allow doctors to withhold food or remove "life support" or obey Do Not Resucitate orders and religious objections to life-saving care, but we don't allow them to "humanely" euthanize people.
For a time the Hemlock Society got a lot of attention, but all the right-to-die debates of the last century seem to have been quashed by the religious right. No more "Doctor Death" debates since Kevorkian went to prison. The question seems to have been settled. Mass murderers get euthanized by injection because it's "humane" but someone who's never harmed anyone has to suffer in agony until "nature takes its course."
As a society we need to consult all the parts of our collective conscious: our knee-jerk but ultimately selfish "NO!" response to the prospect of losing loved ones, the "death panel" in our collective subconscious that decides when additional intervention would be fruitless, and the compassionate part, which worries more about how the dying person feels than about how we would feel about letting them go.
Christians and other believers ask how we atheists can know what's right without an "objective morality" to consult. In some cases there is indeed an objective morality: ask yourself what is the objective of each possible course? Is it selfish or compassionate?
Because I've been involved in pet rescue and I'm a big fan of one special breed, I have a lot of internet buddies and real-life friends who share my love for the breed and for rescue. We often don't share much else, though. So... I just say "thank you" when they invoke the Rainbow Bridge or tell me they'll pray for me.
Making the decision to euthanize is one of those tough times when being a rationalist is really inconvenient. As much as I admire the scientific method and need to know the whole truth of my pet's medical condition, I don't want to let go. If you've followed this blog you know that I've been reading books about decisions and beliefs (just started reading yet another one!). So besides feeling this pull I have the self-awareness of the reasons for my conflicting feelings.
Fortunately the specialist vet I eventually went to (at 1:00 a.m.!) gave me the whole ugly truth, more than the other two vets I'd seen in the previous two days. We could do the procedure, which was expensive but affordable for me, but it probably wouldn't make much of a difference and there were specific reasons why it might not even be possible to do it successfully. The gambler in me wanted to try anyway. The amygdala is in control of that part and said "DO ANYTHING TO SAVE HIM EVEN IF THERE'S A 5% CHANCE!" Then the prefrontal cortex stepped in and said "Save the money and use it to rescue the next one. You've done all you can reasonably do for this dog and it's his time."
Fortunately at that hour the vet hospital didn't need the exam room I was in so I had plenty of time to think it through. Or feel it through, as the case may be. When I put him up on his feet and let him walk around for awhile I could tell that he was suffering even though he still had that *spark* of life and his mind was still with me. An he still wanted to be with me, but I hated that he was suffering, and I couldn't bear to give him only temporary relief only to feel the same way or worse later. After all the tug-of-war between dreading his loss and knowing the "science" of why it was necessary, in the end compassion took over.
So I called the vet on the intercom and told her I was ready to let him go. We talked about euthanasia in general and I told her I've met people who became vet techs (veterinary nurses) because they didn't want to do euthanasias. She responded that she believes she's doing a service, and I had to agree. Then I blurted out "I wish we could do this for people" while she was giving my dog his first injection.
I have said this a few times before in random places and it generally makes people queasy. This is the first time someone agreed with me. She gave me a hug when it was over and told me she understood. I kind of wonder if she also understood how hard it is to believe in euthanasia for people in our society. We allow doctors to withhold food or remove "life support" or obey Do Not Resucitate orders and religious objections to life-saving care, but we don't allow them to "humanely" euthanize people.
For a time the Hemlock Society got a lot of attention, but all the right-to-die debates of the last century seem to have been quashed by the religious right. No more "Doctor Death" debates since Kevorkian went to prison. The question seems to have been settled. Mass murderers get euthanized by injection because it's "humane" but someone who's never harmed anyone has to suffer in agony until "nature takes its course."
As a society we need to consult all the parts of our collective conscious: our knee-jerk but ultimately selfish "NO!" response to the prospect of losing loved ones, the "death panel" in our collective subconscious that decides when additional intervention would be fruitless, and the compassionate part, which worries more about how the dying person feels than about how we would feel about letting them go.
Christians and other believers ask how we atheists can know what's right without an "objective morality" to consult. In some cases there is indeed an objective morality: ask yourself what is the objective of each possible course? Is it selfish or compassionate?
Monday, September 10, 2012
September 11 Remembrance Video
The music and photos of this school project really go together and convey the events of the day very well. I give the student an "A" I give the extremists who did this an "F" for thinking they could advance their warped theology's cause this way, but an A+ for inspiring the growth of atheism in the U.S.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Getcher links right here!
Some interesting news this week:
The South Korean government comes out against creationists.
Jen McCreight quits blogging. She was part of the "A+" movement for nicer atheism (or something), and also part of Freethought Blogs, which had some drama recently when PZ Myers kicked Thunderf00t off the Freethought Blogs site. I didn't follow her blog closely but it's distressing to see her go. Nobody should have to deal with sexist crap, though the cretins kind of proved her point about the way women are treated by male atheists. Plasma Engineer summarizes the history of Atheism+ and the fallout on his Something Surprising blog. In part two he links the commentaries of several male bloggers/vloggers.
Crazyass super-extremist fundamentalist Christian visited my campus this week. I was going to post the local paper's description but it can't top this blog post by the Ohio University Skeptic Society after the nutter visited Ohio U. in 2009. It's encouraging to see that he is apparently 100% unsuccessful in getting anyone to take his nutty theology seriously.
A lucky 13 kids were molested (allegedly) by a 25-year-old music "minister." His father, the former pastor, embezzled from the church before taking a powder. Lovely people, these Christians.
Mentally disabled Christian teen accused of blasphemy in Pakistan is released on bail. This Islamic example of letting religion rule the state should give some dominionist Christians pause... we can hope. The cleric who first accused the girl is now in trouble himself. (if you can trust Fox News)
Rather nice coexistence piece by a Christian (who also blogs for Patheos)
In Egypt, women and girls are being harrassed and some aren't putting up with it.
How to tell if your religious liberty is at risk. Something to share with believers.
Fiji is still a Christian nation, at least until the military who took over the government in a coup finish writing a new constitution.
Jesuit Catholic instruction at Georgetown University includes a biased course in Hinduism. Hindus are surprised. I'm not. But all is not lost. McDonald's is opening vegetarian fast-food restaurants for them. No cows sacrificed for a sandwich, but will that matter to Hindus?
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reprinted an op-ed about Burmese prejudice against muslims from an unlikely source: The Indianapolis Star
The Catholic church is still reluctant to deal with perverts. How can they object to a priest doing a reading at a gay marriage and then rationalize pedophilia?
Meanwhile, the Episcopal diocese is cooperating on an investigation of one of its priests.
The South Korean government comes out against creationists.
Jen McCreight quits blogging. She was part of the "A+" movement for nicer atheism (or something), and also part of Freethought Blogs, which had some drama recently when PZ Myers kicked Thunderf00t off the Freethought Blogs site. I didn't follow her blog closely but it's distressing to see her go. Nobody should have to deal with sexist crap, though the cretins kind of proved her point about the way women are treated by male atheists. Plasma Engineer summarizes the history of Atheism+ and the fallout on his Something Surprising blog. In part two he links the commentaries of several male bloggers/vloggers.
Crazyass super-extremist fundamentalist Christian visited my campus this week. I was going to post the local paper's description but it can't top this blog post by the Ohio University Skeptic Society after the nutter visited Ohio U. in 2009. It's encouraging to see that he is apparently 100% unsuccessful in getting anyone to take his nutty theology seriously.
A lucky 13 kids were molested (allegedly) by a 25-year-old music "minister." His father, the former pastor, embezzled from the church before taking a powder. Lovely people, these Christians.
Mentally disabled Christian teen accused of blasphemy in Pakistan is released on bail. This Islamic example of letting religion rule the state should give some dominionist Christians pause... we can hope. The cleric who first accused the girl is now in trouble himself. (if you can trust Fox News)
Rather nice coexistence piece by a Christian (who also blogs for Patheos)
In Egypt, women and girls are being harrassed and some aren't putting up with it.
How to tell if your religious liberty is at risk. Something to share with believers.
Fiji is still a Christian nation, at least until the military who took over the government in a coup finish writing a new constitution.
Jesuit Catholic instruction at Georgetown University includes a biased course in Hinduism. Hindus are surprised. I'm not. But all is not lost. McDonald's is opening vegetarian fast-food restaurants for them. No cows sacrificed for a sandwich, but will that matter to Hindus?
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reprinted an op-ed about Burmese prejudice against muslims from an unlikely source: The Indianapolis Star
The Catholic church is still reluctant to deal with perverts. How can they object to a priest doing a reading at a gay marriage and then rationalize pedophilia?
Meanwhile, the Episcopal diocese is cooperating on an investigation of one of its priests.
Friday, September 7, 2012
An ordinary woman can be an atheist
Browsing through other blogs I see a lot of "creds," including women who blog as "polemicists" or "feminists."
eh, I'm an feminist in the sense that I want to do what I want to do and I don't want men, especially men who don't know me, telling me what to do. I don't want women to tell me what to do, either, so that really makes me a free thinker. (One exception: my boss can tell me what to do but only for 40 hours per week and she can't tell me who to fuck or who not to fuck or how to do it when I do it, which she fortunately isn't nosy enough to be tempted to do even if she was a fundamentalist nutter)
Some lady bloggers began their blog "careers" as ordinary people then got creds by being bigger-than-life bloggers. Jen McCreight became famous for "Boobquake," which was a "movement" (heh, couldn't resist) objecting to some fundy muslim cleric's claim that earthquakes were due to women being boobish... or something. I wasn't paying attention then and only found her blog later. At the time she was an undergrad at Purdue. Now she's a graduate student and has flown around going to conferences speaking on student activism. She did a good thing, but her "creds" were really just having a point of view and being willing to speak out, then encouraging other students to make a point (or two.. haha couldn't resist that one). She didn't write her blog as a scientist, just as a person who believes in the right to be an atheist in the U.S.
The thing about ordinary women, who aren't ex-pastors or philosophers or PhDs in one of the "hard" sciences or evolutionary biology, is that ordinary women in Christianity are often the invisible glue holding together passé religions (i.e., all religions). They are the "church ladies" and the moms and wives who make it possible for crazyass men to take crazyass positions.
I was expected to be one of these religious women, because church theology (doesn't matter which denomination) is so insane that it needs a translator who will put it into everyday parlance.
Some of my facebook friends are just such people. They "praise god" for a good outcome after an illness or scary event that god didn't apparently forsee so they had to praise him after he figured out how to fix his oversight. If they didn't pray for the happy ending, they credit god with being magical beneficial, but if they did pray for it, they thank him. Granted, more of my FB friends are women and my women friends are chattier on FB, but I think they kind of represent what happens in families and social circles in general.
Today I was emotionally blackmailed with typical FB crap again:
eh, I'm an feminist in the sense that I want to do what I want to do and I don't want men, especially men who don't know me, telling me what to do. I don't want women to tell me what to do, either, so that really makes me a free thinker. (One exception: my boss can tell me what to do but only for 40 hours per week and she can't tell me who to fuck or who not to fuck or how to do it when I do it, which she fortunately isn't nosy enough to be tempted to do even if she was a fundamentalist nutter)
Some lady bloggers began their blog "careers" as ordinary people then got creds by being bigger-than-life bloggers. Jen McCreight became famous for "Boobquake," which was a "movement" (heh, couldn't resist) objecting to some fundy muslim cleric's claim that earthquakes were due to women being boobish... or something. I wasn't paying attention then and only found her blog later. At the time she was an undergrad at Purdue. Now she's a graduate student and has flown around going to conferences speaking on student activism. She did a good thing, but her "creds" were really just having a point of view and being willing to speak out, then encouraging other students to make a point (or two.. haha couldn't resist that one). She didn't write her blog as a scientist, just as a person who believes in the right to be an atheist in the U.S.
The thing about ordinary women, who aren't ex-pastors or philosophers or PhDs in one of the "hard" sciences or evolutionary biology, is that ordinary women in Christianity are often the invisible glue holding together passé religions (i.e., all religions). They are the "church ladies" and the moms and wives who make it possible for crazyass men to take crazyass positions.
I was expected to be one of these religious women, because church theology (doesn't matter which denomination) is so insane that it needs a translator who will put it into everyday parlance.
Some of my facebook friends are just such people. They "praise god" for a good outcome after an illness or scary event that god didn't apparently forsee so they had to praise him after he figured out how to fix his oversight. If they didn't pray for the happy ending, they credit god with being magical beneficial, but if they did pray for it, they thank him. Granted, more of my FB friends are women and my women friends are chattier on FB, but I think they kind of represent what happens in families and social circles in general.
Today I was emotionally blackmailed with typical FB crap again:
 |
| (random friends' group photo grabbed from the web - lots of these out there, but few of men in such groupings, FYI) |
Saturday, September 1, 2012
These are the links that was, erm... were
Romney says releasing his tax returns would violate his religious privacy (even though he's released two years). Fellow Mormon politician John Huntsman calls bullshit, sort of.
TV station owned by Mormons refuses to air "The New Normal." I wonder how they'd feel about "Sister Wives."
Another child-raping closet homosexual Bible-thumping evangelical anti-gay spokesperson for purity gets arrested.
Prostitute asks God for forgiveness and winds up being raped and set on fire. Good going, God. I guess they needed more prostitutes in Heaven.
Washington state Catholic church ignores state election law unless you count their rationalizations.
Baptists are distressed by the Clergy Project (despite what they say at the end of this article) and they stick with Todd Akin.
Pentecostal teen fired by Burger King for wearing a skirt instead of slacks. She claims she can't wear "men's clothes" but she can work at a job? What a ridiculous religion.
Boko Haram sect of Islam wreaks havoc on Nigeria. Now Nigeria wants to "talk" with them. Does that mean they win?
Obama's delegate to special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation gives an interview. It's rather impressive that the OIC is addressing the problems caused by some of the crazier Muslims. Teh cRaZy runs so deep there that I wonder what can be done. At least the U.S. has someone who can speak their language instead of crazy cowboy talk of the previous generation. Quotable quote quotes the Quran:
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney needs an evangelical embassador to relate to people in his own country. The guy's mentor and second father was Jerry Falwell. *shudders*
TV station owned by Mormons refuses to air "The New Normal." I wonder how they'd feel about "Sister Wives."
Another child-raping closet homosexual Bible-thumping evangelical anti-gay spokesperson for purity gets arrested.
Prostitute asks God for forgiveness and winds up being raped and set on fire. Good going, God. I guess they needed more prostitutes in Heaven.
Washington state Catholic church ignores state election law unless you count their rationalizations.
Baptists are distressed by the Clergy Project (despite what they say at the end of this article) and they stick with Todd Akin.
Pentecostal teen fired by Burger King for wearing a skirt instead of slacks. She claims she can't wear "men's clothes" but she can work at a job? What a ridiculous religion.
Boko Haram sect of Islam wreaks havoc on Nigeria. Now Nigeria wants to "talk" with them. Does that mean they win?
Obama's delegate to special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation gives an interview. It's rather impressive that the OIC is addressing the problems caused by some of the crazier Muslims. Teh cRaZy runs so deep there that I wonder what can be done. At least the U.S. has someone who can speak their language instead of crazy cowboy talk of the previous generation. Quotable quote quotes the Quran:
We have made it clear, since President Obama took office, that what terrorists are doing contradicts the teaching of Islam. However there are limits to what the US can do. This requires the attention of the Islamic world, and we have no problem to say that this is not consistent with the teachings of Islam. The Quran states: “God does not change the condition of people until they change what is in themselves.” We support all constructive attempts to change in the Muslim world.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney needs an evangelical embassador to relate to people in his own country. The guy's mentor and second father was Jerry Falwell. *shudders*
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The "Thinking Atheist" on how he deconverted
This is an audio-only youtube video. And sadly, you may have to sit through a Mormon commercial before getting to it!
He is another former fundy who came to atheism from a close study of Christian theology. His family was deep into it and they were not pleased with his atheism, to say the least. This is the story of his coming out to his family.
If you don't already subscribe to his podcasts I recommend them. He often interviews very interesting people. This is the first one I've heard that has his own story. Afterward, some callers read the letters they've written to family.
He is another former fundy who came to atheism from a close study of Christian theology. His family was deep into it and they were not pleased with his atheism, to say the least. This is the story of his coming out to his family.
If you don't already subscribe to his podcasts I recommend them. He often interviews very interesting people. This is the first one I've heard that has his own story. Afterward, some callers read the letters they've written to family.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Good night and good links
Yes, the dead can come back to life.
Camp Quest receives national coverage. It's too bad they had to add something about spirituality being beneficial for children. Some so-called expert thinks children's proneness to fantasy makes believing in a supernatural eavesdropping bully a good thing.
The new face of Jesus, a new meme inspired by a decrepit old woman possessed by Satan (or poor eyesight)
Seattle is one of the least religious cities in the U.S., but incredibly they have more anti-vaccine nuttery. And Mississippi, which is one of the most religious states and one of the most ignorant, doesn't allow exemptions from vaccines. Sometimes this country just makes me want to scream.
I don't get this. The National Cancer Society is using churches to enroll participants in an epidemiological study. Why??? Do they think Catholicism is a risk factor for cancer?
Puerto Ricans were victimized in a Ponzi scheme run by evangelicals. Seems like church-goers of that stripe were a wee bit gullible. Who'd a guessed that?
Chicago eliminates city jobs in order to shift care of the homeless to Catholic Charities. ... basically replacing hard-working paid employees with hard-working volunteers? Oh wunnerful. Well, at least when the laid-off workers become homeless they will have three hots and a cot. I wonder if the CC can resist prosletyzing.
Anti-gay "Fundamentalist Christian Patriot" who promoted stronger laws against exposing private parts gets caught whacking off in a public park... near children. You can't make this stuff up!
Being in a church parking lot is no protection from a bad driver. It's also apparently no place for teaching a teen to drive, especially if you don't know better than to stay in the car with the driver.
Huffpo essay on the Texas Republican Party's anti-science platform. There's a link to the platform there, but I don't have the stomach to go there.
Bill Maher holds nothing back attacking the religious right for magical thinking. "The symbol for their party shouldn't be an elephant -- it should be a unicorn."
This article on religiosity and non-religiosity in Central Florida is worth a read, and really worth point-by-point commentary which I don't have time for now. There's just so much in there - narrow-mindedness vs. inquiry for starters. I wonder how many fundy republicans will read this when they come to the convention.
If you haven't already read this, I recommend this New York Times profile of Jerry DeWitt, former fundy pastor and now executive director of Recovering from Religion.
Al Jazeera interviews feminist author Naomi Wolf about abortion. Unlike U.S. media, they have the balls to do an episode about abortion in the U.S. (the link goes to a promo)
One blogger's answer to the question: Is Israel succombing to Jewish fundamentalism?
CNN just ran a one-hour special on Mitt Romney's life. I couldn't find a link but you can imagine: blah blah daddy was a great man blah blah went to France as a "mission" blah blah wife is pretty blah blah blah The narrator really tried to make Romney sound like an interesting person but it just didn't work.
Camp Quest receives national coverage. It's too bad they had to add something about spirituality being beneficial for children. Some so-called expert thinks children's proneness to fantasy makes believing in a supernatural eavesdropping bully a good thing.
The new face of Jesus, a new meme inspired by a decrepit old woman possessed by Satan (or poor eyesight)
Seattle is one of the least religious cities in the U.S., but incredibly they have more anti-vaccine nuttery. And Mississippi, which is one of the most religious states and one of the most ignorant, doesn't allow exemptions from vaccines. Sometimes this country just makes me want to scream.
I don't get this. The National Cancer Society is using churches to enroll participants in an epidemiological study. Why??? Do they think Catholicism is a risk factor for cancer?
Puerto Ricans were victimized in a Ponzi scheme run by evangelicals. Seems like church-goers of that stripe were a wee bit gullible. Who'd a guessed that?
Chicago eliminates city jobs in order to shift care of the homeless to Catholic Charities. ... basically replacing hard-working paid employees with hard-working volunteers? Oh wunnerful. Well, at least when the laid-off workers become homeless they will have three hots and a cot. I wonder if the CC can resist prosletyzing.
Anti-gay "Fundamentalist Christian Patriot" who promoted stronger laws against exposing private parts gets caught whacking off in a public park... near children. You can't make this stuff up!
Being in a church parking lot is no protection from a bad driver. It's also apparently no place for teaching a teen to drive, especially if you don't know better than to stay in the car with the driver.
Huffpo essay on the Texas Republican Party's anti-science platform. There's a link to the platform there, but I don't have the stomach to go there.
Bill Maher holds nothing back attacking the religious right for magical thinking. "The symbol for their party shouldn't be an elephant -- it should be a unicorn."
This article on religiosity and non-religiosity in Central Florida is worth a read, and really worth point-by-point commentary which I don't have time for now. There's just so much in there - narrow-mindedness vs. inquiry for starters. I wonder how many fundy republicans will read this when they come to the convention.
If you haven't already read this, I recommend this New York Times profile of Jerry DeWitt, former fundy pastor and now executive director of Recovering from Religion.
Al Jazeera interviews feminist author Naomi Wolf about abortion. Unlike U.S. media, they have the balls to do an episode about abortion in the U.S. (the link goes to a promo)
One blogger's answer to the question: Is Israel succombing to Jewish fundamentalism?
CNN just ran a one-hour special on Mitt Romney's life. I couldn't find a link but you can imagine: blah blah daddy was a great man blah blah went to France as a "mission" blah blah wife is pretty blah blah blah The narrator really tried to make Romney sound like an interesting person but it just didn't work.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Bertrand Russell: Why I am not a Christian
 | I read this awhile ago but it's worth a re-read and linkage: http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/russell0.htm He addresses the "First Cause" argument... in 1927... decades before William Lane Craig made it the cornerstone of his career. Can't WLC do a teensy bit of research on his pet theory? The gaping hole in that argument is "Who made God?" He never seems to remember that people have been pointing out that flaw in this "argument" for a long long time |
I may say that when I was a young man, and was debating these questions very seriously in my mind, I for a long time accepted the argument of the First Cause, until one day, at the age of eighteen, I read John Stuart Mill's Autobiography, and I there found this sentence: "My father taught me that the question, Who made me? cannot be answered, since it immediately suggests the further question, Who made God?"
The old Argument from Design is still haunting us today, too. Russell summarizes it this way: "You all know the argument from design: everything in the world is made just so that we can manage to live in the world, and if the world was ever so little different we could not manage to live in it. " This is also called the teleological argument. I have to *lol* at this point he makes:
Really I am not much impressed with the people who say: "Look at me: I am such a splendid product that there must have been design in the universe."
The moral argument goes back that far too. There is apparently nothing new in the modern Christian's argument arsenal. "Kant, as I say, invented a new moral argument for the existence of God, and that in varying forms was extremely popular during the nineteenth century. It has all sorts of forms. One form is to say that there would be no right and wrong unless God existed" This form seems to be the most popular at least from what I've seen. Or maybe I think it's popular because I find it so utterly stupid.
If you are going to say, as theologians do, that God is good, you must then say that right and wrong have some meaning which is independent of God's fiat, because God's fiats are good and not bad independently of the mere fact that he made them. If you are going to say that, you will then have to say that it is not only through God that right and wrong came into being, but that they are in their essence logically anterior to God
Next he examines Christ specifically, which I haven't heard Christians really talking much about. I think they avoid quoting Christ because they really don't follow much of his purported teachings. They're much more fond of "John" of the 4th gospel, and Paul. They conveniently forget that Christ failed to predict his return, or that he wanted them to give up their possessions.
His observation that people believe for emotional reasons still rings true: "do not think that the real reason that people accept religion has anything to do with argumentation. They accept religion on emotional grounds. One is often told that it is a very wrong thing to attack religion, because religion makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it." haha I can just hear him say this in his British accent.
I'm not sure what this argument is called. Argument from pragmatism? Christianity has a good effect on (some) people therefore it should be followed even if you don't believe it's true. Of course the same could be said for all the other religions of the world. He doesn't mince words at all here:
You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress of humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or ever mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.
I find his observation about fear & cruelty very profound:
Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing -- fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand-in-hand.
There's no reason to attack someone you don't fear, so that makes sense. I do agree that homophobia is real - it's a fear that acceptance of homosexuals in the world would either 1) make their own suppression of their homosexual impulses seem silly or 2) make their own heterosexual impulses seem silly. Either way, attitudes toward differences are really self-centered fears turned outward.
His ending reflects my attitude pretty well including my guarded optimism that rationalism and reality will win out: . We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create.
It's a good thing people can't really roll over in their graves. He'd be so ashamed of what America has become.
I think he's a good example to point to when Christians accuse us of having a depressing worldview. From their own impoverished view, life without hope of an eternity in Heaven kissing God's ass must seem pointless. They need to read Russell.
Here is his message to the future, taped 30 years after "Why I am Not A Christian"
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Links Links Links and news news news
Not new, but it seems that liberals and conservatives really do think differently, with different parts of the brain. Or rather, liberals think, and conservatives feel.
Atheism is increasing in the Persian Gulf. The responses are similar to responses you'd get writing about atheism in the Gulf of Mexico area.
In the U.S., not enough of us signed a petition urging Obama to take on the case of an Indonesian atheist jailed for expressing unbelief. I find the number eerily low, but I also find it ridiculous that the State Department isn't already smacking Indonesia for this, or Amnesty International.
There was an atheist film festival in San Francisco last week. Sounds like a great idea for other cities to emulate.
Gone With the Wind heir donates rights to the Catholic church. Not the movie, just everything else. Very strange and now I wonder if I should continue to point out to Christians that just because Atlanta really did burn during the Civil War that doesn't make GWTW true.
Both VP candidates are Catholic. Will Catholics care more about caring for the poor than "culture war" issues (translation: anything remotely having to do with sex)
Orthodox Christian Church & Catholic church are taking steps toward reconciliation. I wonder how they'll settle the issue of married priests.
Hank Williams, Jr. calls Obama a muslim who hates farming among other all-American things. He really looks like someone whose opinion I should adopt... NOT!
Other lovely "Christians" are desecrating muslim graves in Chicago.
On the other hand, non-muslims were among the donors who raised $375,000 to rebuild a Joplin, Missouri mosque destroyed by a mysterious possibly hatred-fueled fire. I wonder how all the Christians who patted themselves on the back for helping out after the tornado feel about this.
I have pointed out to friends that this election could be very different due to the lack of a Protestant on the Republican ballot. I'm not the only person who has noticed this. Not only is there no Protestant, there's no evangelical protestant though Ryan's creds with that group are probably pretty good. He seems not to mention the papacy in public. That will go a long way. Several news outlets commented on this unique event this week including CNN. (Prothero has written some very interesting books on religion I've read his book, Religious Literacy which has a lot of interesting history)
Atheism is increasing in the Persian Gulf. The responses are similar to responses you'd get writing about atheism in the Gulf of Mexico area.
In the U.S., not enough of us signed a petition urging Obama to take on the case of an Indonesian atheist jailed for expressing unbelief. I find the number eerily low, but I also find it ridiculous that the State Department isn't already smacking Indonesia for this, or Amnesty International.
There was an atheist film festival in San Francisco last week. Sounds like a great idea for other cities to emulate.
Gone With the Wind heir donates rights to the Catholic church. Not the movie, just everything else. Very strange and now I wonder if I should continue to point out to Christians that just because Atlanta really did burn during the Civil War that doesn't make GWTW true.
Both VP candidates are Catholic. Will Catholics care more about caring for the poor than "culture war" issues (translation: anything remotely having to do with sex)
Orthodox Christian Church & Catholic church are taking steps toward reconciliation. I wonder how they'll settle the issue of married priests.
Hank Williams, Jr. calls Obama a muslim who hates farming among other all-American things. He really looks like someone whose opinion I should adopt... NOT!
Other lovely "Christians" are desecrating muslim graves in Chicago.
On the other hand, non-muslims were among the donors who raised $375,000 to rebuild a Joplin, Missouri mosque destroyed by a mysterious possibly hatred-fueled fire. I wonder how all the Christians who patted themselves on the back for helping out after the tornado feel about this.
I have pointed out to friends that this election could be very different due to the lack of a Protestant on the Republican ballot. I'm not the only person who has noticed this. Not only is there no Protestant, there's no evangelical protestant though Ryan's creds with that group are probably pretty good. He seems not to mention the papacy in public. That will go a long way. Several news outlets commented on this unique event this week including CNN. (Prothero has written some very interesting books on religion I've read his book, Religious Literacy which has a lot of interesting history)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Sciency Basics for the Newly Deconverted
Both believers & atheists seem to put science at the core of atheism at times, when it really doesn't have to be, at least not as you deconvert.
My deconversion was due to skepticism about the supernatural in general, and due to learning about other cultures in Anthropology courses in college and by meeting people of other backgrounds as an adult. Science to me was the antithesis of pseudo-science, not of religion... at least while I was still going to church trying to "connect" with the religion of my childhood.
The skeptical literature I read at the time concerned things like:
...then I went trippingly through life free from the burden of wondering whether I'd go to Hell or whether some supernatural judge was eavesdropping on my thoughts. I let people know I was an atheist, but unless they were part of a batshit crazy denomination or tried to convert me, I didn't press the issue. (Heh heh, do NOT send me Godspam! You've been warned!)
...and then I discovered atheist stuff on the interwebs. ...and then the "New Atheist" movement created a few books for me to stumble across at Borders Books (*sniff* still miss the place)
If you are new to atheism, you'll notice that the "professional atheists" tend to come from a few scholarly disciplines. Only Christopher Hitchens could be counted as a "regular guy" who just told it like it is, though he was a professional journalist so only semi-regular. Here are the disciplines some bullies think you have to be conversant in to have an opinion:
...and possibly a few others. Fortunately, you don't really have to be conversant in a bullshitter's favorite form of bullshit to call them on their bullshit. But it helps. For the most part, though, we encounter believers who ask the same rather inane questions of us. Sometimes there are some sciency answers to the questions they ask, because they think their religion explains sciency things.
Here are some "answers" for newbies:
When you die, your brain cells stop doing what they do and you stop being who you are. It's hard to accept but "we" are our brains. Just ask someone who's been shot in the head and survived. Oh wait, ask their family for a better answer.
Near-death experiences just prove that the brain has a process during death, not that there is a bright light in another plane of existence.
Where we came from is a series of totally natural processes that took millions of years. That includes possible abiogenesis (life from nothing) from chemical building blocks of what are now cells. It includes evolution, which the process of advantageous variations giving a few individuals an edge, while most variations are neutral. You don't have to know every detail of all these things to know that "God did it" is a cheap and superficial answer.
Why are we here? We just are. If you need a reason for your existence, find one for yourself. Nobody gave it to you. That's okay, because the people who find a "reason" in their religion have really found it for themselves, too. They all find different purposes even when they supposedly believe the same things.
Yes, most of the stuff of religion is factually wrong. Sometimes it's accidentally wrong, and sometimes it's intentionally wrong. Just because some historical details from the Old Testament are true doesn't make the supernatural details from the Old Testament True. Atlanta really burned during the Civil War, but that doesn't make Gone with the Wind a true story.
There is wonder and mystery and poetry in the Natural World. You don't need to add a supernatural dimension to find that. It's there if you look.
Your brain is a fabulous thing, but it can deceive you. Under certain conditions you can see or sense other beings, feel a warm comforting feeling, or give yourself the will to continue under stress. Much of that you can get from relationships with other people. Cultivate your relationships and you'll find you haven't lost much by disbelieving in the supernatural.
Knowing the classic fallacies helps to see through nonsense when it's presented to you. "False prophets" are everywhere, but now you can call them what they really are: charlatans.
Trust in the scientific method and the people who use it is not the same as faith in a supernatural deity. If the scientific method didn't work, it would be thrown out because scientists care about what's true. Believers will cling to what is demonstrably false..
...well, for awhile they do. Welcome to the World of What's True, newbie!
My deconversion was due to skepticism about the supernatural in general, and due to learning about other cultures in Anthropology courses in college and by meeting people of other backgrounds as an adult. Science to me was the antithesis of pseudo-science, not of religion... at least while I was still going to church trying to "connect" with the religion of my childhood.
The skeptical literature I read at the time concerned things like:
- the numerical impossibility of souls being reincarnated
- fake faith healers' "miracles" no more than magic tricks
- "chi" of Eastern pseudo-medicine has no basis in fact
- psychics use "cold reading" to fool people
...then I went trippingly through life free from the burden of wondering whether I'd go to Hell or whether some supernatural judge was eavesdropping on my thoughts. I let people know I was an atheist, but unless they were part of a batshit crazy denomination or tried to convert me, I didn't press the issue. (Heh heh, do NOT send me Godspam! You've been warned!)
...and then I discovered atheist stuff on the interwebs. ...and then the "New Atheist" movement created a few books for me to stumble across at Borders Books (*sniff* still miss the place)
If you are new to atheism, you'll notice that the "professional atheists" tend to come from a few scholarly disciplines. Only Christopher Hitchens could be counted as a "regular guy" who just told it like it is, though he was a professional journalist so only semi-regular. Here are the disciplines some bullies think you have to be conversant in to have an opinion:
- Philosophy
- Ancient History
- Apologetics
- Cosmology
- Evolutionary Biology
...and possibly a few others. Fortunately, you don't really have to be conversant in a bullshitter's favorite form of bullshit to call them on their bullshit. But it helps. For the most part, though, we encounter believers who ask the same rather inane questions of us. Sometimes there are some sciency answers to the questions they ask, because they think their religion explains sciency things.
Here are some "answers" for newbies:
When you die, your brain cells stop doing what they do and you stop being who you are. It's hard to accept but "we" are our brains. Just ask someone who's been shot in the head and survived. Oh wait, ask their family for a better answer.
Near-death experiences just prove that the brain has a process during death, not that there is a bright light in another plane of existence.
Where we came from is a series of totally natural processes that took millions of years. That includes possible abiogenesis (life from nothing) from chemical building blocks of what are now cells. It includes evolution, which the process of advantageous variations giving a few individuals an edge, while most variations are neutral. You don't have to know every detail of all these things to know that "God did it" is a cheap and superficial answer.
Why are we here? We just are. If you need a reason for your existence, find one for yourself. Nobody gave it to you. That's okay, because the people who find a "reason" in their religion have really found it for themselves, too. They all find different purposes even when they supposedly believe the same things.
Yes, most of the stuff of religion is factually wrong. Sometimes it's accidentally wrong, and sometimes it's intentionally wrong. Just because some historical details from the Old Testament are true doesn't make the supernatural details from the Old Testament True. Atlanta really burned during the Civil War, but that doesn't make Gone with the Wind a true story.
There is wonder and mystery and poetry in the Natural World. You don't need to add a supernatural dimension to find that. It's there if you look.
Your brain is a fabulous thing, but it can deceive you. Under certain conditions you can see or sense other beings, feel a warm comforting feeling, or give yourself the will to continue under stress. Much of that you can get from relationships with other people. Cultivate your relationships and you'll find you haven't lost much by disbelieving in the supernatural.
Knowing the classic fallacies helps to see through nonsense when it's presented to you. "False prophets" are everywhere, but now you can call them what they really are: charlatans.
Trust in the scientific method and the people who use it is not the same as faith in a supernatural deity. If the scientific method didn't work, it would be thrown out because scientists care about what's true. Believers will cling to what is demonstrably false..
...well, for awhile they do. Welcome to the World of What's True, newbie!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Christianity is a Totalitarian State
Some of the sects in the U.S. take their beliefs to a ridiculous level. These fundamentalists are really totalitarians without a government. The definition of totalitarianism is:
The women won't cut their hair or wear pants, the kids can't watch TV, nobody is allowed to wear jewelry, they spend hours and hours in church every Sunday and more hours on other days, they're not allowed to marry outside of their denomination.... And there are the Mormons, who wear magic underwear, can't drink coffee or booze, and forbid the women from wearing pants.
None of these silly rules can possibly make someone a better "Christian," just a more obedient one. One of my coworkers who went to a religious school pointed out that some of those "rules" are based on Paul's letters to people in cities that had very specific problems. I can't remember the particulars but it had to do with not wearing the same kind of outfits that prostitutes wear in that locality. Not dressing like a prostitute is pretty good advice for all women who don't want to be mistaken for prostitutes. Not dressing like a first-century prostitute in the Middle East, uhhhh
Indiana also has Amish & Mennonites, who are kind of the Wahabists of Christianity. They look like they stepped out of the 1850s.
What I find crazy is that they think this totalitarianism is a good thing. If Papal totalitarianism is bad, and Hitler's totalitarianism was bad, and Stalin's totalitarianism was bad, how can they justify this form?
Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed.Some denominations are decentralized in the sense that they don't have popes or bishops declaring what they should believe, but they consider The Bible their centralized authority (not necessarily God). The individual is subordinated to the cluster of beliefs they're required to believe, and woe to anybody who breaks the rules! There are some of these churches around here and it's been an eye-opener for me.
The women won't cut their hair or wear pants, the kids can't watch TV, nobody is allowed to wear jewelry, they spend hours and hours in church every Sunday and more hours on other days, they're not allowed to marry outside of their denomination.... And there are the Mormons, who wear magic underwear, can't drink coffee or booze, and forbid the women from wearing pants.
None of these silly rules can possibly make someone a better "Christian," just a more obedient one. One of my coworkers who went to a religious school pointed out that some of those "rules" are based on Paul's letters to people in cities that had very specific problems. I can't remember the particulars but it had to do with not wearing the same kind of outfits that prostitutes wear in that locality. Not dressing like a prostitute is pretty good advice for all women who don't want to be mistaken for prostitutes. Not dressing like a first-century prostitute in the Middle East, uhhhh
Indiana also has Amish & Mennonites, who are kind of the Wahabists of Christianity. They look like they stepped out of the 1850s.
What I find crazy is that they think this totalitarianism is a good thing. If Papal totalitarianism is bad, and Hitler's totalitarianism was bad, and Stalin's totalitarianism was bad, how can they justify this form?
Saturday, August 4, 2012
This is the week that was
CNN's Ungodly Discipline revisits Fairhaven church in Indiana, where the church gives parishoners paddles to use on their kids and grown children of the pastor accuse him of abuse. (thanks to fundamentally reformed blog for the link -- it's good to see Christians taking other Christians to task for a change) Perhaps they should adopt a Fosdickian philosophy. (No, I didn't make that up!)
Catholic Ethical financial fund fails to make money. Perhaps God is trying to tell them something.
Scottish Catholic bishop claims homosexuality cuts life span by 20 years. Seriously. God told him. Or something.
Running on a platform of being against an Islamic center that's not even in your own district is apparently not a winning strategy, even in Tennessee. Quote:
Zelenik pledged during the campaign that if elected she would "work to stop the Islamization of our society, and do everything possible to prevent Sharia Law from circumventing our laws and our Constitution."
... wouldn't that mean that would mean that the Fairhaven Indiana child-abusers who claim God wants them to paddle children will be subject to child abuse laws?
Malaysia's prime minister claims to be guided by his faith in Allah. He says "Islam guides our nation." Sounds like some American Christian politicians, no?
Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church are in bed together and a female punk rock group called Pussy Riot is now on trial for objecting. Could the world get any crazier? "Mr. Putin, tear down that wall... between church and state!"
Syrian Christians at risk. Well, Syrian Muslims are at risk too. All damn Syrians are at risk. What a messed up place. Oh wait, they've been warmongering barbarians for about five thousand years. Carry on, Syria. I really love it when I read the New York Times and I think I'm reading the Bible.
If they flee, they shouldn't go to Egypt! The U.S. is demanding that Egypt crack down on attacks against Christians, because you know, the Christians of the U.S. are so kind-hearted toward the Muslims in the U.S. (okay, they're not killing them, but it's not like they embrace them, either) Funny how we're coming to the rescue of those Christians, but the Christians in Muslim-controlled Bosnia were on their own.
In Brazil, the Assemblies of God and Foursquare (yes) branches of Pentacostalism are growing. But they're not teh crazee like in the U.S.:
An Episcopal Church in NJ observes a one-day Ramadan fast. Rather interesting idea. At least it's a walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes kind of thing. I'd do it myself but I'd postpone it until the winter, when dawn-to-dusk is only about eight hours!
Myanmar Buddhists & Muslims duking it out. Buddhists? Really? What is the world coming to? Hey guys how about dropping that whole supernatural baloney and being neighbors? Sheesh. "nothing to kill or die for..."
Global Islamic Body urges aid for Myanmar Muslims. Seriously? How about not attacking Christians in Egypt and Jews anywhere, and then let's talk about others not attacking you. Or how about this? Nobody attack anybody else?
Missourians will vote on a right they already have. Dumbasses. The quotes in this article are priceless.
...and Chik fil-A, in case you didn't know, is run by someone who is a fundy and toes the fundy line, including the part about not learning how to spell. He's against gay marriage and some people are surprised and shocked. Oh my. Hey, he has a right to be a religious jerk as long as he follows the law. He hasn't broken the law so just boycott his joints (which I have always done) and leave him alone. We can't win the "war" if we are as bullying as they are!
Catholic Ethical financial fund fails to make money. Perhaps God is trying to tell them something.
Scottish Catholic bishop claims homosexuality cuts life span by 20 years. Seriously. God told him. Or something.
Running on a platform of being against an Islamic center that's not even in your own district is apparently not a winning strategy, even in Tennessee. Quote:
Zelenik pledged during the campaign that if elected she would "work to stop the Islamization of our society, and do everything possible to prevent Sharia Law from circumventing our laws and our Constitution."
... wouldn't that mean that would mean that the Fairhaven Indiana child-abusers who claim God wants them to paddle children will be subject to child abuse laws?
Malaysia's prime minister claims to be guided by his faith in Allah. He says "Islam guides our nation." Sounds like some American Christian politicians, no?
Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church are in bed together and a female punk rock group called Pussy Riot is now on trial for objecting. Could the world get any crazier? "Mr. Putin, tear down that wall... between church and state!"
Syrian Christians at risk. Well, Syrian Muslims are at risk too. All damn Syrians are at risk. What a messed up place. Oh wait, they've been warmongering barbarians for about five thousand years. Carry on, Syria. I really love it when I read the New York Times and I think I'm reading the Bible.
If they flee, they shouldn't go to Egypt! The U.S. is demanding that Egypt crack down on attacks against Christians, because you know, the Christians of the U.S. are so kind-hearted toward the Muslims in the U.S. (okay, they're not killing them, but it's not like they embrace them, either) Funny how we're coming to the rescue of those Christians, but the Christians in Muslim-controlled Bosnia were on their own.
In Brazil, the Assemblies of God and Foursquare (yes) branches of Pentacostalism are growing. But they're not teh crazee like in the U.S.:
An Episcopal Church in NJ observes a one-day Ramadan fast. Rather interesting idea. At least it's a walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes kind of thing. I'd do it myself but I'd postpone it until the winter, when dawn-to-dusk is only about eight hours!
Myanmar Buddhists & Muslims duking it out. Buddhists? Really? What is the world coming to? Hey guys how about dropping that whole supernatural baloney and being neighbors? Sheesh. "nothing to kill or die for..."
Global Islamic Body urges aid for Myanmar Muslims. Seriously? How about not attacking Christians in Egypt and Jews anywhere, and then let's talk about others not attacking you. Or how about this? Nobody attack anybody else?
Missourians will vote on a right they already have. Dumbasses. The quotes in this article are priceless.
...and Chik fil-A, in case you didn't know, is run by someone who is a fundy and toes the fundy line, including the part about not learning how to spell. He's against gay marriage and some people are surprised and shocked. Oh my. Hey, he has a right to be a religious jerk as long as he follows the law. He hasn't broken the law so just boycott his joints (which I have always done) and leave him alone. We can't win the "war" if we are as bullying as they are!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Causes of Rampage Killing
As the child of a schizophrenic and the sister of another schizophrenic, and the step-daughter of someone with MS-related psychosis, I naturally follow the news whenever someone with a mental illness commits a crazy act of violence. My own brother scared me when he became ill, because he exhibited some of the features common to mass killers: an interest in firearms, an interest in mass murderers who used firearms, and loss of a job. Of course, he lost his job due to his mental illness. After this, he no longer saw his psychiatrist because he no longer had insurance (a bogus excuse on both of their parts imho). And then, being unemployed with time on his hands, his thought process had no brakes on it. I was afraid he'd shoot up his workplace, but I knew him and knew he just wasn't a vengeful person. In all the time we were growing up he never used direct or redirected revenge against anybody that I knew of. I feared suicide more than homicide. He wound up doing neither, but he never got treatment and is now homeless. You can't force treatment on someone who poses no threat to himself or others, so his crazy choice to cling to his delusions and be unemployable is his to make.Still, I want to learn what I can from the few experts that have studied rampage killers just in case. There is very little written for lay people, and not a lot of peer-reviewed literature either, that I could find. The popular press tends to focus on just one case, for example Whitman in Texas.
Of course, any time something bad happens in the U.S., some evangelical nutjob will claim it's due to our degraded morality. We can dismiss this hypothesis out of hand because the Bible doesn't say anything about mass murder happening in Sodom and Gomorrah. God took them out himself, he didn't rely on mass murderers to punish those sinful sinners! But I'll add this to the long, long list of hypothesized causes for mass murder:
- Irreligiosity
- Religiosity
- Media violence
- Maleness
- Gun "culture"
- Lack of gun control laws
- Government conspiracies
- Bullying
- Mental illness
- Lack of mental health treatment
- It's just plain senseless
- Mass Murder in the United States: A History
- Mass Murder in the United States (different book) by authors named "Holmes." Spooky, no?
- Extreme Killing. I have read this book and it's just so-so. It basically just tells stories you could read on Wikipedia but it does give you some vocabulary of the way the experts talk about this, and a broad overview.
- Suicidal Mass Murderers: A Criminological Study of Why they Kill. (mainly about Virginia Tech, which would be the most comparable case to the Holmes case)
- ...and this article makes the case that mass murder is an attempt on the part of the murderer to soothe his psychological angst.
- The pseudo-commando Mass Murderer fits the description of Holmes, except that he committed his crime at night.
My pet peeve with society, at least in the treatment of the generation that's been responsible for school shootings, is that teachers were taught to give kids empty praise, just for "trying." And everyone is included and nobody gets disappointed. Besides being dishonest with children, it didn't give them enough opportunitities to learn important life lessons. Sometimes things don't go your way. Sometimes you're not as good as you think you are. During my brief college teaching career, I encountered a lot of terrified students who really didn't know whether they were any "good" at something. They knew they could get away with cheating (at that school) but even when they didn't cheat, some of them felt like frauds. I was a demanding teacher and the feedback I got from students was that I was very fair. The students who passed felt a sense of accomplishment and the ones that failed knew it was their own fault. They seemed genuinely grateful for a real challenge in which their self-perception and my feedback were totally in synch.
I was at the University of Iowa when Gang Lu shot up the Astronomy department there. He was disappointed not to have received an award he felt he was entitled to. Well, sometimes you get disappointed in life. Kids should learn about that in kindergarten so they can handle it later. Well, that's my rant, but it's mere opinion. Next I'll be reading some of the linked material to see what the people who have actually met mass killers have to say about what drove them over the edge.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Religion Clause: Many Claims Dismissed In Establishment Clause Suit On Philosophy Course Content
Religion Clause: Many Claims Dismissed In Establishment Clause Suit On Philosophy Course Content
I hope she's at least cost them as much in legal costs as they stole from her in tuition money!
I hope she's at least cost them as much in legal costs as they stole from her in tuition money!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Links du semaine
How the Mormon Church makes money. My question is, why don't they pay taxes on this loot? (They pay some taxes but not enough!) ... No, wait, my question is what they wear at their Polynesian theme park. Do they have special Polynesian magic underwear? Mormon defenders are out in force in the comments section. If this money from for-profit companies is really being used for charitable purposes why is the LDS so secretive about it?
America for Jesus event in Philadelphia - will it become a dominionist election-year screed? How can they energize their base to vote for a Mormon? Could be interesting.
Tragic but also ironic, Chik Fil-A PR chief dies suddenly. It's too bad he was on the side of people who believe God smites people who are in the wrong. Having to run damage control on his boss's bigoted statement would stress anybody's heart, but it sure seems like a smiting.
Methodist minister used to be a "she." Gotta admit, except for that believing in God business, the Methodists can be cool sometimes: "Weekley, 60, was invited to preach at Morningside as part of the church’s 17th anniversary as a Reconciling Ministry, a movement within the United Methodists Church to welcome LGBT parishioners."
As if to prove themselves as backwards as ever, a Catholic priest blames Satan for Holmes' attack in Colorado. Uhhhh yes, the guy was demon-possessed in the same sense that the 'demon-possessed' characters in the Bible were demon-possessed, i.e., mentally ill.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the identity of a pedophile priest is kept secret and his victim commits suicide. The victim's name appears prominently in this article. What is wrong with the world?
Nuns on the Bus tour ends in Washington, D.C. One of my friends from Wisconsin met them and she thought they were awesome. I used to think nuns were just mean old hags who swatted boys on the hand (h/t George Carlin)
Another nun gets into trouble with the Vatican for saying things like "Any policy that is more pro-fetus than actually pro-life, if the rights of the unborn trump all the rights of those that were already born, that is a distortion." Ahhh those modern-day Eves, trying to drag down the good ole boys... Sister Pat wants to feed the poor and clothe the homeless... *sigh* Silly woman.
The Southern Baptists are having trouble keeping up the bigotry.
Zombies counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church. Sadly, they found no brains to snack on.
A Baptist Church in Mississippi manages to make WBC look progressive. The pastor, supposed to be a spiritual leader who does what's right, is too much of a coward to stand up to the bigots who don't want him to conduct a marriage ceremony between two black people who attend the church because they are black.
First female Episcopal bishop. I still heart the Episcopal Church except for the part where you have to believe in a supernatural deity, take part in a cannibalistic ceremony, and listen to people read from a collection of fairy tales.
Louisiana's voucher system could pay for kids to go to evolution-denying schools. Supposedly, the schools kids can use state cash for have to meet the same standards as public schools... in everything but biology. *sigh*
Another reason not to fund creationism-based public education: Kids can go to creationism-based Vacation Bible School to learn that drivel.
One of Chik Fil-A's evangelical supporters admits he's gay (or gay-ish?)
Apparently female televangelists can be homosexual hypocrites, too.
With so many of their leaders turning out to be homosexual, why are evangelicals promoting homophobia in Africa? Mormons are in on this, too.
America for Jesus event in Philadelphia - will it become a dominionist election-year screed? How can they energize their base to vote for a Mormon? Could be interesting.
Tragic but also ironic, Chik Fil-A PR chief dies suddenly. It's too bad he was on the side of people who believe God smites people who are in the wrong. Having to run damage control on his boss's bigoted statement would stress anybody's heart, but it sure seems like a smiting.
Methodist minister used to be a "she." Gotta admit, except for that believing in God business, the Methodists can be cool sometimes: "Weekley, 60, was invited to preach at Morningside as part of the church’s 17th anniversary as a Reconciling Ministry, a movement within the United Methodists Church to welcome LGBT parishioners."
As if to prove themselves as backwards as ever, a Catholic priest blames Satan for Holmes' attack in Colorado. Uhhhh yes, the guy was demon-possessed in the same sense that the 'demon-possessed' characters in the Bible were demon-possessed, i.e., mentally ill.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the identity of a pedophile priest is kept secret and his victim commits suicide. The victim's name appears prominently in this article. What is wrong with the world?
Nuns on the Bus tour ends in Washington, D.C. One of my friends from Wisconsin met them and she thought they were awesome. I used to think nuns were just mean old hags who swatted boys on the hand (h/t George Carlin)
Another nun gets into trouble with the Vatican for saying things like "Any policy that is more pro-fetus than actually pro-life, if the rights of the unborn trump all the rights of those that were already born, that is a distortion." Ahhh those modern-day Eves, trying to drag down the good ole boys... Sister Pat wants to feed the poor and clothe the homeless... *sigh* Silly woman.
The Southern Baptists are having trouble keeping up the bigotry.
Zombies counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church. Sadly, they found no brains to snack on.
A Baptist Church in Mississippi manages to make WBC look progressive. The pastor, supposed to be a spiritual leader who does what's right, is too much of a coward to stand up to the bigots who don't want him to conduct a marriage ceremony between two black people who attend the church because they are black.
First female Episcopal bishop. I still heart the Episcopal Church except for the part where you have to believe in a supernatural deity, take part in a cannibalistic ceremony, and listen to people read from a collection of fairy tales.
Louisiana's voucher system could pay for kids to go to evolution-denying schools. Supposedly, the schools kids can use state cash for have to meet the same standards as public schools... in everything but biology. *sigh*
Another reason not to fund creationism-based public education: Kids can go to creationism-based Vacation Bible School to learn that drivel.
One of Chik Fil-A's evangelical supporters admits he's gay (or gay-ish?)
Apparently female televangelists can be homosexual hypocrites, too.
With so many of their leaders turning out to be homosexual, why are evangelicals promoting homophobia in Africa? Mormons are in on this, too.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Colorado shooter was seeing whom????
News reports say he was seeing a psychiatrist but when you look her up at Healthgrade, it says she's physiatrist, a physical therapist! But.... UCompare says she's a psychiatrist. Maybe she's both! On the hospital's site it says she is.
Not to be a snob... okay I'll be a snob... but if I'm having paranoid delusions and hearing voices, I would not go to someone who can't make up her mind whether to specialize in the mind or the body. Sure, the mind lives in the body, but seriously....
And checking pubmed, she hasn't published anything in five years. In academia, for someone on a tenure track this is really really weak.
CNN is having trouble verifying her credentials, too. If she's been getting grant money to study schizophrenia, the granting agencies should demand a refund. She hasn't published anything on schizophrenia so where's the evidence she was really qualified to help this guy?
The sadder thing is that after he was no longer a student she probably could no longer see him. That should be the one big exception to insurance company plans. My brother had this problem too. He got fired due to his schizophrenia and then couldn't see his doctor any more. Of course he could have paid cash but... *sigh* When someone leaves work due to a broken leg they can see their doctor and come back when their leg is healed. When they get sick with a mental illness their entire support system goes *poof* due to the very thing they need support for.
You'd think grad schools would have wised up after the University of Iowa shooting. They need good mental health providers and support for people who are disappointed. Instead of having a psychiatrist on their staff who has many duties, they should pay for sick students to go to the best shrink in town. It's not just enlightened self-interest, it's the right thing to do.
Not to be a snob... okay I'll be a snob... but if I'm having paranoid delusions and hearing voices, I would not go to someone who can't make up her mind whether to specialize in the mind or the body. Sure, the mind lives in the body, but seriously....
And checking pubmed, she hasn't published anything in five years. In academia, for someone on a tenure track this is really really weak.
CNN is having trouble verifying her credentials, too. If she's been getting grant money to study schizophrenia, the granting agencies should demand a refund. She hasn't published anything on schizophrenia so where's the evidence she was really qualified to help this guy?
The sadder thing is that after he was no longer a student she probably could no longer see him. That should be the one big exception to insurance company plans. My brother had this problem too. He got fired due to his schizophrenia and then couldn't see his doctor any more. Of course he could have paid cash but... *sigh* When someone leaves work due to a broken leg they can see their doctor and come back when their leg is healed. When they get sick with a mental illness their entire support system goes *poof* due to the very thing they need support for.
You'd think grad schools would have wised up after the University of Iowa shooting. They need good mental health providers and support for people who are disappointed. Instead of having a psychiatrist on their staff who has many duties, they should pay for sick students to go to the best shrink in town. It's not just enlightened self-interest, it's the right thing to do.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Debate Video with TWO unbelievers!
Sam Harris and Michael Shermer take on Deepak Chopra and a woman who can't get in a word edgwise. Listen for a priceless line by Deepak Chopra at 23:39 and at 28:40 one by Sam Harris.
This is one of the rare times when a "debate" included equal numbers on both sides. Usually a lone skeptic/atheist is up against half a dozen believers.
This is one of the rare times when a "debate" included equal numbers on both sides. Usually a lone skeptic/atheist is up against half a dozen believers.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
The week in links
Tom Vilsack is an individual who works for the government and says prayers that appear to be answered but not for the people he prayed for. This is not unconstitutional! (but it is a waste of taxpayer money if he does it on the clock) It pains me when atheists make a fuss oversomething that's not illegal. If anything, he should be taken to task for not explaining to the farmers who voted Republican that they are being punished by God.
Missouri will vote on the stupidest law ever. Someone has told these cretins that the First Amendment can prevent them from praying in public. Someone needs to explain to Missourians the difference between praying in public as a citizen and praying in public as a public official.
Got Prayer? 2700 students gather for "Prayer Fest." Because just praying in your church isn't good enough to get God's attention.
Katie Holmes returns to the Catholic church, which she was brought up in, and enrolls Suri in a posh Catholic school (@ almost $40k/year). I didn't even know there were any posh Catholic schools! If going to the school that produced Lady Gaga is an improvement over a Scientology education, I really wonder about that Scientology "education."
Why Scientologists buy the Xenu story. "OK, so there's a galactic overlord named Xenu. Big deal. That's not the craziest thing you're going to hear on your way to spending three hundred thousand dollars."
An evangelical Christian has written a book called The Mormonization of America. Oh horrors! The other side is prosletyzing too! You can't make this stuff up.
An evangelical blogger takes other evangelicals to task for a lack of intellectual and scholarly integrity. He ends his blog post by saying he's open to criticism.
Referenced in the above blog post: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, a 1995 book that apparently still holds true. The first sentence: "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is no evangelical mind."
Westboro Baptist Church plans to "super-picket" funerals in Aurora, Colorado. Oh goody. Just what the situation calls for: more theatre.
The Episcopal Church approves same-sex marriage ceremony officially, but they're not calling the ceremony a marriage ceremony. Uhhh okaaaaay
In Australia, priests may be required to report crimes they hear about in confession.
Strange faith healing technique: kicking people in the face. The article says the guy is all over youtube so of course I had to check. Many of the videos label him a "false" healer (as if there are true ones) or "false teacher." The Holy Spirit said "Kick her in the Face." Yes, he said it! Then, at other times he sounds like a bad Bill Clinton imitator. (Go to 4:30 to see his imitation of Clinton masturbating)
Missouri will vote on the stupidest law ever. Someone has told these cretins that the First Amendment can prevent them from praying in public. Someone needs to explain to Missourians the difference between praying in public as a citizen and praying in public as a public official.
Got Prayer? 2700 students gather for "Prayer Fest." Because just praying in your church isn't good enough to get God's attention.
Katie Holmes returns to the Catholic church, which she was brought up in, and enrolls Suri in a posh Catholic school (@ almost $40k/year). I didn't even know there were any posh Catholic schools! If going to the school that produced Lady Gaga is an improvement over a Scientology education, I really wonder about that Scientology "education."
Why Scientologists buy the Xenu story. "OK, so there's a galactic overlord named Xenu. Big deal. That's not the craziest thing you're going to hear on your way to spending three hundred thousand dollars."
An evangelical Christian has written a book called The Mormonization of America. Oh horrors! The other side is prosletyzing too! You can't make this stuff up.
An evangelical blogger takes other evangelicals to task for a lack of intellectual and scholarly integrity. He ends his blog post by saying he's open to criticism.
Referenced in the above blog post: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, a 1995 book that apparently still holds true. The first sentence: "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is no evangelical mind."
Westboro Baptist Church plans to "super-picket" funerals in Aurora, Colorado. Oh goody. Just what the situation calls for: more theatre.
The Episcopal Church approves same-sex marriage ceremony officially, but they're not calling the ceremony a marriage ceremony. Uhhh okaaaaay
In Australia, priests may be required to report crimes they hear about in confession.
Strange faith healing technique: kicking people in the face. The article says the guy is all over youtube so of course I had to check. Many of the videos label him a "false" healer (as if there are true ones) or "false teacher." The Holy Spirit said "Kick her in the Face." Yes, he said it! Then, at other times he sounds like a bad Bill Clinton imitator. (Go to 4:30 to see his imitation of Clinton masturbating)
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